Employee Leasing for Franchise Business Owners

PEOs Offer Employee Management Solutions for Franchise Owners

While attending the 2012 Franchise Expo South at the Miami Convention Center, I was amazed to see all the new and exciting franchise opportunities that were present this year. Every aisle featured a wide array of franchise enterprises offering almost every category of business and consumer products and services. The Expo represented a who’s who of the franchise industry.

Exhibitors included well known veteran operators like Baskin-Robbins Ice Cream and Sign-A-Rama, as well as two new entrants from Palm Beach County, FL. The Original Brooklyn Water Bagel Company and Hurricane Grill and Wings, were rolling out fresh new restaurant concepts with delicious and original menu items that are sure to please the entire family.

A variety of personal service concepts were on hand, from accounting and financial services to health care, home care, and personal security, to beauty services and spas. There was one common theme throughout—the franchise industry was alive and well despite a weak economy and tight credit environment.

The Advantages to Owning a Franchise

The advantages that successful franchise systems offer are numerous. First time business owners acquire a franchise system’s time-tested formula. Individuals willing to invest their time and money can purchase a recognized brand within a protected territory from an organization that provides training, marketing support, and a proven business model.

There is no shortage of potential franchise business owners either. The economic downturn and high unemployment has created a large pool of potential entrepreneurs yearning to operate their own business. Thousands of returning American Veterans can take advantage of special financing and training programs from over 400 franchise systems who participate in the International Franchise Association’s VetFran (www.vetfran.org) program.

Leading franchisors help entrepreneurial servicemen and women, and inexperienced business owners to hit the ground running by offering a “turn-key” operation. The franchise team supplies all the required expertise, guidance and support, beginning with site selection through vendor relations, making certain that every new franchisee is generating revenue from day one.

Congratulations Franchise Owner - Now What?

Most franchise systems help franchise owners get up and running. They provide the model and the franchisee operates the business. However, many franchised business models can’t operate without employees, and many owners have never recruited, trained or managed a workforce before. Fortunately, small business owners can turn to HR outsourcing companies, called professional employer organizations, which can pick-up where the franchise system leaves off. PEOs or staff-leasing firms assume many of the employment responsibilities that franchise owners must contend with.

The majority of new franchise operators are unaware of the myriad of Federal and State laws imposed on small businesses today. Failure to comply with labor and wage and hour rules, submitting timely payroll reports and tax payments can result in severe penalties and fines. Defending your firm against a wrongful termination, independent contractor dispute, or sexual harassment can lead to expensive litigation, and have a catastrophic effect on your bottom line. All too often, a business owner hires a ‘bad apple’ whose behavior causes accidents, costly claims, and disrupts your ability to maintain an engaged and productive workforce.

PEO - Not Just a Payroll Company

Just as a successful franchise system provides a “One Stop” solution for operating a business, employee leasing and PEO companies are the answer to managing franchise employees. They are true HR companies providing comprehensive human resource services to employers under a co-employment agreement. Franchise owners operate the business, while the HRO or PEO acts as the administrative employer of record.  Employment-related reporting, HR compliance, payroll administration, workers compensation and workplace safety are handled by an experienced staff of HR and payroll professionals. Highly trained safety engineers and risk managers are assigned to examine and evaluate any worksite for potential hazards.

Another advantage employee leasing and professional employer organizations share with the franchise industry is that they both achieve economic efficiencies by bringing together large numbers of subscribers. By serving thousands of small business owners, many PEOs offer franchise operators a wide range of discounted insurance programs, employee benefit plans, and workers’ compensation coverage at significant savings to small business group rates. Franchisees gain a high level of HR and safety expertise, valuable employee benefit and incentive programs, and the latest HRIS technology at one low cost. Outsourcing your tedious and non-productive employee administration responsibilities to a comprehensive HR company is a win-win for the franchise owner and franchise employee alike.

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Find a Professional Employer Organization at PEO.com

Leading Website to Locate PEOs and Employee Leasing Companies

Are you a small business owner or busy executive searching for assistance with managing your employee administration, benefits, and HR compliance responsibilities? Discovering the right solution has never been easier. Today, help finding an employee leasing or professional employer company is just a click away. Just type PEO on Google, Bing, Yahoo or your favorite search engine. Usually PEO.com appears first or second in the natural search, testimony to the site’s authority, content, and duration.

Click on the logo above to go the the PEO.com website  

The website is the brainchild of industry veteran and visionary Rod Diekema, who developed and launched PEO.com in 1997. The interface has changed over the years, with each new version contributing to an easy and safe user experience for the busy HR manager or business owner. Vistors to the site are treated to a soft and welcoming home page which offers the choice of searching for an HR outsourcing company by location or keyword. Trying to find local employee leasing companies in your state? Simply scroll down and pick the city nearest you.

Does your company require the services of a large national professional employer?  A search of PEO.com’s extensive database reveals Accord HR headquarted in Oklahoma City, OK has offices in Littleton, CO, New York and Syracuse, NY, Tampa, FL, and Tulsa OK. Boise, ID based Employers Resource serves clients with offices located from Anaheim CA, Atlanta, GA, to Dallas, Houston and San Antonio, Tx.

Maybe your the owner of a  small family business who is looking for a local “hands-on” HR company to relieve you of your payroll, HR administration, and employee benefit problems? High touch, high service professional employers like St. Louis, MO based Simploy HR or Employee Capital Management serving Michican and Illinois can be found with the click of a mouse.

Don’t take my word for it. Find an employee leasing firm or professional employer company that is right for you at PEO.com today. Not sure which types of PEO or HR organization is right for you? No problem. Knowledgeable PEO consultants and industry veterans are available to advise you of all your HR outsourcing options, and will help you find the best personnel management company for your company.

HRO and PEO Companies - Is Bigger Really Better

Does Size Matter When Considering a Professional Employer Organization?

A large NY insurance group invited me to give a seminar to their agents and brokers on HR outsourcing and the different models, administrative service organizations, employee leasing, and professional employer organizations. During the presentation I explained the  different options, covered the various services, levels of expertise, and the technology platforms that a business owner could expect to receive from each.

We compared the range of charges and identified the areas where their clients could realize significant savings, as well as the additional benefits their employees would receive. Having covered all of the pros and cons of HR outsourcing and professional employers organizations, I opened the discussion for questions and answers.

The questions came fast and furious. How many companies are there? Who are some of the companies? How many co-employees? How much payroll? Are HRO’s and PEO’s rated by AM Best or S&P? All great questions, in truth, most of the questions dealt with how much they would be paid, how soon, the sales cycle and a few questions I won’t repeat. Some of the questions dealt with healthcare reform. You could sense that some in the group were concerned about their future.

Looking Under The Bun …. Where’s the Beef?

Many of the agents where impressed with some of the industry names and statistics. Most were unaware that payroll giant ADP has a seperate PEO division called Totalsource,  as well as their nearest competitor Paychex. They marveled when told of the amazing growth rate of California  based TriNet, who had recently acquired Gevity HR, the nation’s largest professional employer and HR outsourcing organization.

One of the brokers in the back of the room wanted to know if any of the PEOs were public companies. I informed him that Administaff, symbol (ASF), based in Texas was the largest pure-play professional employer organization trading today. When I mentioned that the company reported revenue last year of $1.6 billion dollars, the group really stood up and took notice.

Sitting on the plane returning to West Palm Beach, I was thinking about the presentation. I couldn’t get over how everyone in the room was impressed by the numbers. The amount of revenue generated,  the increase in sales by client and co-employees, and the total number of dollars spent every year on HR administration. Many in the room didn’t take notice until I mentioned household names like ADP and Paychex, who after all, are known for something else …. payroll. In fact, we find that in many areas of the country, their PEO divisions are a big secret to most small and midsize business owners.

I  began to focus on the fact that the people in the room, professional sales people, had placed such a high value on hearing big names and big numbers. It occurred to me, that if it was important to them, then it must be important to their clients as well. But, is this always the case, and should  a PEO ‘s size play a role in your decision making process? Follow along as we look into three areas of a professional employer’s value proposition. The Process - how they deliver their services. The People - the human side of HR, and Price - What are you paying and what are you really getting?

Offsite HR versus Professional Employer Organization

Many business owners have asked me to explain the difference between an Off-Site Human Resource Organization (HRO) and a Professional Employer Organization (PEO), also referred to as employee leasing companies. While most of my clients could care less what the solution is called, so long as we resolve their problem, there are clear differences between these two classifications. When considering whether you should select an HR outsourcing provider or contracting with a Professional Employer Organization, it is extremely important for business owners and managers to identify the weak links with their employee management and human resource administration. Ask yourself, how can we make our company more competitive? What areas of employee administration can be delivered more efficiently? Are your human resource policies and procedures up-to-date? Are you protecting yourself from frivolous lawsuits by adhering to the myriad of federal, state, and local employment rules and regulations? Are you attracting the best employees by providing a competitive benefits program at affordable rates?

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